What Causes Excessive Sleepiness After Taking Seroquel?

Posted on Thu, 17 Jul 2014

Question: My husband has been put on a new prescription that I am unsure about. He has advanced Parkingson's and dementia, is unable to walk, and feed himself. He had been on Atavan for restlessness and agitation, for 1 month. He has been in a Nursing Home for 5 months, and was usualy quiet and agreeable.
He sleeps so much now, and more than he did when on Atavan alone. The new prescription is Seroquel. 100 mg. at bedtime. He is usually in bed (from recliner all day) by 6:30 PM, and at 8 AM, he is awakened and is usually fusses and wants to sleep more. Today I think he was given Atavan in the morning because of his agitation.
Please give me your opinion...or advice.

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
The dose of seroquel should be reduced.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for posting your query.

I have noted your husband's symptoms and diagnosis.

Seroquel (quetiapine) is a good medication to control agitation and restlessness. However, 100 mg is a bit too high dose for him.

I usually start seroquel at a dose of 25 mg at night, and build it up, as per the patient's response.

Most people do not require more than 50 mg of seroquel per day at that age.

I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.

Wishing you good health,

Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar